


Run

by KevinLazar



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, BAMF Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Dark Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Gen, Runaway Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:08:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 12,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27942020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KevinLazar/pseuds/KevinLazar
Summary: After years of bullying, Hiccup has finally had enough. Rated M for a single battle scene, everything else is T. This story has been abandoned, it is being replaced by "Run, Hide, Pray."
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Although this story was abandoned on January 31, 2020, I am moving it to AO3 because another work references it.
> 
> I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.
> 
> This is my first ever fanfiction, I would love any feedback, positive or negative.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the son of Stoick the Vast, Chief of Berk, had been relentlessly bullied by everyone on Berk, especially Snotlout Jorgenson, a buff boy with an ego the size of Stoick's gut, Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston, twins who had a knack for destruction, and Astrid Hofferson, a fearsome warrior with a short temper. When he met Toothless, a Night Fury, three months ago, he had began to train, keeping his skills hidden. Hiccup had thought his life had turned around, but on the second day of Dragon Training, he saw how wrong he was.

Astrid had just turned around to Hiccup, and yelled, "Is this some kind of a joke to you? Our parents' war is about to become ours! Figure out which side you're on."

Everyone thought that Hiccup would just turn and run, but they were so wrong. Everyone always saw Hiccup as a kind, gentle person, someone without a temper. As they watched, even Snotlout could see the changes in Hiccup's face as the emotion drained, leaving a stony mask and a glare like ice. When he looked up, even Gobber took a step back as he was startled.

Snotlout decided that he would put his cousin back in his place, taking a step forward and raising his fist, but when he met Hiccup's eyes, he froze in fear. He slowly worked up the courage to keep moving forward, hoping that his little cousin would flinch, but Hiccup never did.

Finally, Snotlout threw a punch, only to have Hiccup catch it in his hand. Before anyone knew what had happened, they saw Snotlout drop to the ground with a scream of pain.

With a voice colder than ice, Hiccup stated, "Move aside. I do not want to have to hurt anyone else today."

Everyone stumbled back, as if they were just punched, never had they felt such hatred in a voice before.

Astrid replied, "You have no right to speak against us, Useless, you could never hurt me, I am not as stupid as Snotlout!"

And she charged forward, her trusty axe in hand. She swung it at him, but he dodged the blow. He kicked her back, and she threw the axe that he had made her all those years ago at him. Nobody knew what was coming next, as Hiccup caught the axe, and with one fluid motion, brought it to the ground, shattering it as though it were ice.

As the others looked on in shock, Hiccup coldly stated, "I think that I have proven that I have the right to speak against you. You have made my life Hel for the 15 years, and now you must live with the consequences of what you have done to me. I will be back some day, pray that I will show mercy."

In the stunned silence, Hiccup slowly walked out of the arena, and into the woods.

As he made his way to the cove, the others were still trying to process what had just happened. Snotlout was still sobbing in pain from his snapped wrist as Gobber dragged him off to Gothi, Astrid was just staring at her axe in disbelief, the twins were fighting, and Fishlegs was getting ready to make a run for it.

Astrid asked, "Fishlegs, you were the closer to Hiccup than the rest of us, did you know that he could do that?"

Fishlegs, still stunned, squeaked, "I did not know that anyone could do that, much less Hiccup."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.
> 
> For anyone who is wondering, I have been playing around with ideas for this story, as I could not find many good stories similar to this one.
> 
> This chapter has been rewritten to include some elements that I was told seemed to be missing.

As Hiccup made his way down into the cove, Toothless could sense that something was wrong when the normally calm boy he had known seemed to be agitated. As he approached Toothless, Hiccup said, "It is time to go bud, there is nothing here for either of us. I will never be able to return after what I did today."

Toothless approached and nuzzled his rider before nodding in agreement at the idea of leaving.

That night, Hiccup snuck back into the peaceful village, stealing basic supplies: leather, food, schematics, clothes, blankets, maps, and tools from the forge. He packed up, leaving a final note that would be found in the morning.

His note read, "People of Berk,

I have decided that I am going to leave Berk and find another place to settle. I was driven to this choice by the relentless bullying, with the worst being my cousin. The final straw was when Astrid snapped at me in the arena, and I realized that I would never be accepted. In addition, I have decided to disown my family, becoming an individual. I promise you that when I return, you will understand how helpless I felt. Pray that I show you mercy, for I always keep my promises.

– Hiccup the Useless"

As he ghosted through the forest, he heard the sound of a woman gently sobbing. Following the sound, Hiccup saw Astrid, sitting in a small clearing, openly sobbing. Realizing what had happened, he crept back away, before quickly heading down to the cove where Toothless was waiting.

Shortly before midnight, Hiccup mounted Toothless, and together, they raced off into the distance, heading to one of the many uninhabited islands near Berk. He settled for the night, sleeping close to Toothless' warm body.

As Astrid sobbed in the woods, she was thinking about what she had done, regretting that she had pushed Hiccup over the edge. She mourned the loss of her axe, criticizing herself for her carelessness in throwing it and resolving to see if Gobber could fix it in the morning.

#

As the sun came up and Gobber came to open the forge, he found Astrid waiting for him, holding the remains of her axe in her hands.

She asked Gobber, "Could you repair my axe? I know it is in bad condition, but it was so perfectly made that I could not replace it."

Gobber grimly replied, "I could never repair your axe, or even make you one just as good. Only Hiccup has ever made such a good weapon, but he is gone." Before going into the forge to begin the day's work.

Astrid was left standing outside, wondering if she could ever make up for what she did, eventually deciding to go relieve some of her stress by hitting Snotlout and the twins, who already had it coming for past events.

#

Around noon, the Stoick discovered the note that Hiccup had left, and he summoned the entire village with his booming voice. When he read the note, he noticed the faces of Snotlout, Astrid, and Fishlegs going very pale, but he could not understand why. What he did understand was that Astrid and Snotlout were going to pay for what they did.

Soon after, Stoick noticed that Snotlout's arm was in a sling. He asked, "What happened to your wrist, did Astrid get tired of your flirting again?"

Snotlout replied, "Astrid had nothing to do with this; Hiccup was the one who broke my wrist."

At that point, Snotlout shrank in embarrassment, and Stoick looked startled. He had never known that his son could fight, and he realized why the other teen's faces had gone pale when he read the note: they were terrified of him. He began to wonder why he hadn't seen the changes in his son sooner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will hopefully be posting the next chapter within a week. I would like to say that I love the way Astrid normally manages her stress in context...


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.
> 
> I appreciate all the kind reviews, and I have a few things that I will be trying out, including different points of view.

Hiccup had started to plan out where he was going to go. He decided that he would travel east towards Helheim's Gate, where they would be safe from attack by the vikings.

As they flew, Hiccup noticed something unusual happening to Toothless and he could hear a low chirping noise in the distance as they raced farther in, helpless to resist the pull of the sound.

As Toothless raced through the mist around Helheim's Gate, Hiccup could see more and more dragons joining around them, all carrying food. Soon, he could see the outline of an island. Toothless kept flying, soon passing through a hole in the side of the mountain and into a massive cavern. The first thing Hiccup noticed was the burning heat and the smell of sulfur in the air. He then saw that all the dragons were dropping their catches into a huge pit, eating none of it, and he began wondering why they would do such a thing. He soon found out when gronkle dropped a single, tiny fish, and a head larger than any dragon he had ever seen came up out of the mist, swallowing the gronkle in a single piece.

The Red Death noticed Hiccup on the back of Toothless, and was about to charge at them, but Toothless was faster, flying out of that cavern faster than ever before, resolving to never turn back.

Hiccup and Toothless realized that they could not yet take on that beast, so they went west, where they would not be within the irresistible call of the cannibalistic monster that controlled the dragons.

They decided that they would build their home in a mountain that was riddled with caves, but no entrance from the ground.

When they landed in the entrance, Hiccup asked Toothless, "Do you think that this is a safe place to settle for now? Is there anything you do not like?"

Toothless replied by going into a corner and curling up to sleep for a while, obviously agreeing that it was safe.

Hiccup's first priority was to start making a small forge that he could use to make tools for building and farming. He found a large cavern, about 100 feet from the mouth of the entrance, and he set down the tools he had. The first thing he needed to make was armor of some sort, knowing that he would need it to stay hidden.

He thought about making his armor out of steel, but realized it would be too bulky to do any good in a fight. His next thought was leather, but that was not strong enough, or at all fireproof. He had a sudden flash of inspiration – he could sew some of Toothless' scales onto a leather base, using small plates of metal to reinforce key points on his armor.

He brought the idea to Toothless, who seemed rather disinterested, responding with a simple eye roll, before going back to sleep.

That night, Hiccup started drafting what the armor would look like, basing it off of the appearance of a Night Fury. By the next morning, he had a leather base laid out, ready for him to start sewing the scales on and he had started collecting the scales that Toothless had shed already.

#

Astrid approached Gobber, unable to believe that Hiccup had made such a good weapon, before asking, "Did Hiccup really make my axe?"

Gobber replied, "He didn't just make your axe, he made most of the weapons in this village, even his father's hammer. If you don't believe me, you will find 'HHHIII' on the handle of any weapon he made."

Astrid asked people if she could see the handles of their weapons, and most just looked at her like she was crazy, but those who let her look were surprised just as much as she was with the presence of Hiccup's initials.

Soon, the word was out that Hiccup had made all their weapons, and people began trying to break them, but to no avail. They were just too strong for even Stoick to break.

On the edge of a cliff, overlooking the sea, Gobber saw the figure of a man so vast that it could one man. As he approached to ask why Stoick was there, he saw the hammer in Stoick's hand and his arm drawn back, ready to throw it off the edge. Gobber yelled at Stoick, "Don't throw that hammer! If you do, you will have proven to Hiccup that you do not value anything he has ever done. You are still his father. Remember what your dad told you about what happened to your sister. If he could see you now, he would be ashamed of what you have done to your own son!"

Stoick slowly lowered his arm, turning and giving Gobber a menacing glare, saying, "Who are you to tell me what to do and not to do! I am still the chief of this tribe!"

Gobber calmly replied, "I wasn't telling you what to do, I was making sure that you knew about the consequences of your actions."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plenty of material to work with here, the next chapter will see some massive turns...
> 
> For those of you wondering, the story behind Gobber's words can be found in Whiskerface's fanfiction, titled "Careful," it is a good story.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.
> 
> In this chapter, you will see some major development, with flashbacks being bold. I will also be resolving a couple of loose ends from earlier.

A couple of weeks had passed and winter had begun to set in with a vengeance, covering the Barbaric Archipelago with a thick layer of snow. Hiccup was almost done with his armor, just sewing on the final scales.

When he finished sewing the last scale in place, began to put it on, marveling at how light and flexible it still was, and how it insulated him from the cold air around him. When Toothless saw the armor, he was quite intrigued that his rider had managed to look so much like a dragon would. He remembered when he first met Hiccup in that forest.

**He was laying there in tied up, hungry, and in pain. He still wasn't sure how he had gotten there in the first place. Nobody had ever managed to get even close to hitting him, but somehow he had been struck down. It had been three days since the fall, and he heard the snap of the twig nearby, then saw a the head of a tiny boy appear for just a second above a small hill of dirt. The boy had come closer, holding a shiny metal dagger, but looking very scared, as he should be when faced with a Night Fury. Toothless began to sense that something was different about this little boy when he did not attack, but instead chose to cut him free. He quickly pinned down the boy, giving him a warning, before trying to fly off, but being unable to do so. He crashed into a cove, where he spent the next week getting to know this boy.**

When Hiccup put on his helmet he too began to remember about his time with Toothless.

**He was searching through the forest, looking for the Night Fury that he had shot down three days ago, when he stumbled across it. He quickly ducked his head back down, thinking for a moment before quietly approaching. He raised his dagger, getting ready to kill the beast in front of him, but when he looked into those green eyes, all he saw was pain and fear. He saw himself. He realized what he had done, and he began cutting the Night Fury free. When he finished, he found himself pinned down, but the dragon just roared and tried to fly off. Over the next week, he visited the cove every day, getting to know the Night Fury he called Toothless. The next month was spent training with Toothless, a grueling routine of strength, speed, and intelligence. Soon, he was able to dodge Toothless' tail, which he had found had the annoying habit of smacking him in the head.**

That night, Hiccup and Toothless went on a flight together, going high above the clouds, the suit making it look like Toothless was flying on his own. When they landed back in the cavern they called home, Hiccup was ecstatic that his idea for armor had worked perfectly, almost earning him a slap with the tail from a certain tired Night Fury.

Hiccup's next task was to make himself a weapon. He spent the next morning drafting various weapon ideas, simple and complex. He knew that he could not work with a hammer or an axe due to the size, a spear would be too cumbersome to fly with, a knife would have too short of a reach, but a sword was seeming just right.

He chose a design that he had drawn of a double edged sword, something that would give him speed and reach. Once he had the basic model of it, he decided to try to replicate something he had noticed a while in the past.

**The last raid was very costly, destroying almost all of the catapult towers positioned around Berk. Hiccup had decided, against his father's wishes, that he wanted to see more of the destroyed catapult. As he approached it, he spotted something black on the ground, black like the night sky. It was a piece of metal, about half the size of his palm, and he picked it up, curious about what had made it black. He was surprised at how light it was, but when he tried to break it, it had withstood the attempts.**

He called over Toothless, asking, "Hey bud, could you help me a moment by giving this a small plasma blast?" motioning to the sword he had made.

Toothless shoved Hiccup out of the way to keep him safe, then gave it a strong shot, wondering why his rider had asked him to do such an odd thing. He turned around, and motioned for Hiccup to come take a look at the result. The sword was a deep black, just like the chunk he had found in the catapult wreckage.

He picked up the black sword, and it felt like an extension of his arm. He decided to give it a test by swinging it will all his might at the wall of the cave. It let out a tremendous crash, but when he looked, the sword was unharmed in any way.

He spent the rest of that day sharpening the sword and polishing it until it was as smooth as glass, and forging a scabbard of the same steel. Once he was done, he curled against Toothless' body and slept like a child, a peaceful look on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will not be posting again for a little, I am only posting this because I needed to get this part of the plot out. I am going to be spending most of my time for a bit in order to rework the first 3 chapters.
> 
> To all those reviewers, you have my gratitude.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.
> 
> I know that this may seem a little soon, but my earlier chapters actually went fairly fast when I was revising them.

The next morning, Hiccup was woken by an irritated Night Fury who wanted to fly. Although he was tired, he agreed, knowing that it would help him with the coming battle against the Red Death. He put on his armor, strapping his sword to his hip, ready to fly.

When they finally came back, Hiccup was sore from the hours of flying, but he could not rest yet. During the long flight, he had noticed quite a few things that he could improve on the saddle and his armor. The first thing he did was to begin working on a new tail, this time sewing Night Fury scales onto it, and using night steel for the components. He shaped the various pieces, the rods in the fins, the pedal mechanisms, and all the other metal components in the flight rig. He also forged small pieces of chain mail that he could use to reinforce his armor, replacing the regular metal in it.

He called Toothless over, asking for some more plasma blasts, and creating a great deal of night steel to use in the rig and armor. Once Toothless was done, he went back to sleep, tired from the flight. Hiccup began to work the leather into the shape of the fin before sewing the scales on. It had taken him several hours of hard work to build the rigging, but it was finally done. As much as he wanted to test it right away, he knew that waking up Toothless again would not be a good idea, considering how tired he seemed. He decided to begin working on his armor some more.

When he finished, Hiccup fell asleep at his workbench, thinking of even more ideas on what he could do.

#

It had been two days since everyone had tried to destroy the weapons that Hiccup had made for them and only Stoick, Gobber, and Fishlegs still had the weapons that he had forged for them. The rest of the weapons were lying at the bottom of the cold, rough sea, slowly rusting away to nothing.

Gobber had been working almost nonstop trying to replace the weapons that had been discarded, but there was only so much he could do to help.

That night, the village experienced one of the worst raids they had ever seen, losing almost half their livestock, most of their homes, and ten warriors. The villagers did not understand why they had not been able to fight back as well as before, but Stoick and Gobber knew that it was because of Hiccup's weapons.

The next morning, Stoick began the job of rebuilding. He told Snotlout to start hauling timber, and giving Astrid a hatchet to go cut down some trees.

As Astrid struck the trees, she began to wonder whether the village could ever make amends for what they had done to Hiccup. To be honest, she was terrified of the boy, knowing that he always kept his word.

Meanwhile, Snotlout was whining about how sore he was as he hauled the timber around. His face was covered in bruises, courtesy of Astrid's coping strategies, and his wrist was still not healed, but he knew better than to try to slack off.

As Stoick stood watching the reconstruction, he was thinking about everything he had said to his son. He remembered how he had never been there for his son, how he had always been too busy, and he felt a tinge of fear, fear for himself and his village. Hiccup had always kept his promises—why should this one be any different?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will focus mainly on Hiccup, and it will feature several epic fights.
> 
> I would like to respond to Mariah, who was asking whether or not Hiccup would find another girl. There is about a 90% chance that he will not, but we will have to see where the story goes...


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.
> 
> This chapter will have some more flashbacks, as well as some good fight scenes. Watch out for more Night Steel weapons and cool gadgets too.

Hiccup woke up sitting at has workbench, a bit puzzled before he realized that he had fallen asleep there last night. He went to wake up Toothless, who was as eager as Hiccup to test out the new flight rig that Hiccup had made. Hiccup could barely get the restless Night Fury to hold still long enough to put on the flight gear, but he finally managed it.

Toothless looked amazing in his new rig, his tail looking natural, and the night steel blending in to his skin, like it wasn't even there.

Hiccup and Toothless soared through the air, faster and sharper than ever before, the new tail and the lighter metal allowing Toothless to fly as well as if he was alone. Hiccup was beginning to think that soon, they might be able to take on the cannibalistic monster in the volcano to the west.

They trained harder than ever, straying miles from their new home.

Suddenly, Hiccup heard yelling below him, spotting a ship full of pirates about to overtake another ship, one from Berk. He remembered how much the people of Berk had hurt him, but he could not bear to leave them to die on that ship at the hands of pirates. He soared down, landing on the pirate's ship.

The pirates saw a black dragon swoop down towards them. When the dragon landed on their ship, it caused it to rock fiercely, but what scared them the most was when they saw a shape, as black as the dragon he was on, climb off of the back and draw out a sword unlike anything they had ever seen.

One of them charged forward at the slim figure, but he found that he could not hit his opponent.

As the man swung his sword, Hiccup ducked slightly, waiting for the next stroke before countering. He struck at the pirate's blade, his night steel sword cutting through it like butter, before he gave a quick thrust, killing the stunned man.

The other pirates looked on in awe and fear; the fight had taken less than 30 seconds, and the stranger had not a scratch on him. They began to charge, trying to overwhelm their opponent, but the man attacked with his sword, cleaving through skin and bone like it was paper. Soon, there was only one man left alive. He watched as what could only be a demon began to approach. He dropped his weapon, ready to run, but he stopped when he heard a voice.

The figure said, "I am not going to kill you, I want someone to spread the word that these waters are protected."

And when the man turned, they had vanished

As he flew away, Hiccup realized that he was in need of that sort of practice more often, his sword fighting skills had gotten a little rusty over time. Hiccup remembered the first time that he had started training with the sword.

**It had been three weeks after he had met Toothless that he had become strong enough to lift a sword. He had started training with his right hand, as he had seen everyone else do, but he found himself constantly stumbling. He grew frustrated, wondering why he still couldn't seem to do anything. Toothless noticed this, and he picked up the sword, approaching his rider. He had noticed that Hiccup used his left hand for everything else, and so when Hiccup held out his right hand to grab the sword, he gave a low growl. Hiccup was puzzled; why would Toothless bring him the sword, but not want him to grab it. He decided to try something. He reached out with his left hand, and he found that Toothless didn't growl, but instead gave a low warble of approval at his actions. He tried using the sword in his left hand, and he found that he was improving. Using he wooden sword, he began to duel with Toothless' tail. At first, he had been constantly whacked in the head by that cursed tail, but soon, he was holding his own, block the tail, and even managing to get in some strikes of his own.**

He thanked Toothless for all he had done, realizing that he would have never gotten this far without the training his dragon had helped him with.

When they arrived back home, Hiccup noticed that the food supplies were starting to get a little low, and the next day, he headed to the Northern Markets to buy some more. He had a fair store of gold, having taken it from the pirate's ship.

When he arrived, he hid Toothless, knowing that the vikings at the markets would not take kindly to the presence of a dragon.

He spent the day gathering a month's worth of various supplies, before heading back home.

That night, he decided that he would take a quick look at how Berk was doing without him, expecting them to manage fine, but what he saw was much of the village was in ruins, homes were only partially constructed, obviously the aftermath of a devastating raid.

In his home, he began to work on an idea he had come up with, something that would allow him to fly on his own. He told Toothless about his idea, and the dragon gave him a look of disapproval, not particularly liking how dangerous the idea was.

Hiccup decided that he would put off that idea for later.

#

It had been almost a month since he had left, and Hiccup was feeling like they were ready to face the Red Death. They headed to the volcanic lair of the monster, striking the side of the mountain with a plasma blast, cracking it open.

The Red Death was furious that something had broken the wall of her home, and she resolved to kill whatever it was. She crawled out of the pit, looking for the troublesome creature.

Toothless launched a plasma blast at the side of the Queen's head, making it quite angry. It launched off a stream of fire, close enough that Hiccup could feel the heat. He looked back, at the tail fin, and he was glad to see that the fire had done nothing to it.

Toothless shot off more blasts, aiming at the wings. He climbed high above the clouds, before diving down and giving a blast so strong that it knocked the Queen off her feet.

Hiccup saw the Queen's wings begin to unfurl, wondering whether or not she could fly, but that question was answered when he saw the colossal dragon begin to climb into the air. He and Toothless raced into the clouds, the Red Death in pursuit. They struck her from every angle, enraging her.

The Queen saw them, and Hiccup yelled out, "Toothless, dive!"

They dove down through the clouds. Hiccup saw the Queen's mouth beginning to fill with gas. He and Toothless then turned, and shot a blast down the Queen's throat, setting the gas alight.

When the Queen was dead, Hiccup was amazed that he had remained unscathed by the fight against the monster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to say that there will come a day when Hiccup will lose his leg, but today is not that day… Chapter 7 should be up by the end of the week. I am not sure exactly where I am going to go next, so ideas would be very helpful.
> 
> I must say that I am shocked with the success of this fanfiction, having received almost 2,000 views so far.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.
> 
> This chapter will mainly focus upon Berk, there will be a bit more from Stoick soon, as well as more from Gobber.

The people of Berk had suffered greatly over the past month, with raids becoming so costly that even the most stubborn vikings didn't stand up to the dragons, choosing instead to bring their livestock indoors, and hide.

Stoick looked upon his men with a heavy heart. Ever since Hiccup had left, nothing had felt the same. The once strong spirit of Berk was slowly dying, the suffering growing to great to continue. He was not sure if they would have enough food to get through the coming winter. He was still coming to terms with what he had done to his own son—all the misery he had caused through his lack of action.

**It had been a long day for Stoick and he was exhausted. He came home to find his son waiting for him,** **as he had done almost every night** **, but Stoick,** **as usual,** **just walked right past his son, heading to bed.**

Stoick now saw that Hiccup had just been trying to help, realizing that he should not have put him down just because he was different, but he was worried that it would be too late for him to make amends.

His thoughts were interrupted when a couple of sailors approached him. He asked them what they needed, and they replied, "When we were on the way back here with food from the markets, we were almost attacked by ship full of pirates."

Stoick had a grim look on his face as he asked, "What happened? There did not seem to be any damage to your ship or men missing."

One of the sailors replied, "We never actually fought the pirates. We saw a black dragon descend upon their ship, and we saw a figure dressed in black climb off the dragon and kill all but one of the pirates without a scratch."

Stoick looked at the man with apprehension; how could there have been a figure on the back of that dragon?

He pushed aside his doubts and thanked the men for letting him know. He was just glad that they had more food for the winter.

With the matter dealt with, he lapsed back into his memories, wishing he had made different choices.

**Stoick picked up the his son, furious with him for being so stubborn, refusing to stay inside no matter how many times he was told. He carried his son back to his house, setting him down in his room before walking back down to find Gobber right outside the door. Stoick asked, "What do you want Gobber?"**

**Gobber replied, "You think you were an easy child? He is just as stubborn as you were. H** **is dream is** **to be like you,** **so** **why are you trying to stop him?"**

**Stoick angrily replied, "At least I followed orders! Hiccup doesn't follow orders. He will never be a good viking!"**

**Gobber yelled, "You're right, he won't be a viking! He will be better than one. Try giving him a chance for once!"**

**Stoick bellowed, "I have given him enough chances already, I cannot afford to have him destroy anything else right now!"**

Stoick was furious with himself for what he had said that night, surely his son had heard his bellowing insults. He would do anything to turn back time and change his actions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will keep on posting chapters when I can, I hope you enjoy them.
> 
> See you again soon.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.
> 
> This chapter will be darker than any of the others, seeing Hiccup lose it even more than before, but it will not be something that continues throughout the rest of this story. I just like to write angry Hiccup...
> 
> IMPORTANT A/N: The chapter is a turning point. I will be accepting input on what should happen for the next 12 hours before I close it off. If you want a say in the outcome, please do so now.

It had been two months since Hiccup had left Berk, and a month since he had defeated the Queen who controlled the raids. Since he had defeated the Queen, he had kept himself and Toothless busy guarding the Archipelago from the increasing number of pirates, using them as combat practice. He was beginning to miss his home, but knowing that he could not return without trouble, he resolved to fly over Berk that night to see what had happened in his absence.

That night, Toothless soared right below the clouds over Berk, indistinguishable from the sky around him. As Hiccup looked down, he could see that the village was in the middle of some hard times, with most of the buildings still damaged, and he began to feel some pity for Berk, but not enough to help without a price. Before they headed back home, Hiccup and Toothless took out the remaining defenses, rousing the villagers, but disappearing before they could do anything.

The following morning, Hiccup and Toothless flew to the now defenseless Berk, landing on the edge of a cliff by the sea.

The villagers turned, stunned to see a dragon landing at the edge of the village. Stoick bellowed, "Kill that dragon!" and the villagers charged forward, until they saw a figure climb off the back of the dragon and heard a voice.

The stranger coldly stated, "I am not here to harm you right now, but if you hurt my dragon, I will kill everyone on this island. You know what I am capable of, so I would advise you to think for once in your lives about your actions."

The people of Berk stumbled back a bit, feeling like they had just seen a demon, but that did nothing to prepare them for what it said next, "You have made a grave mistake, casting out Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the former heir to Berk. I have come to help, seeing as you will most likely die of starvation without me, but there are three conditions. First, you will not harm my dragon. Second, when I go into the woods, you will not follow me. And third, you will have to prove that you deserve my help. I will return tomorrow morning to hear your decision."

Hiccup climbed back onto Toothless, and took off, heading into the forest, leaving the village in stunned silence.

Snotlout, arrogant as always yelled, "We do not need the help of any man who rides on the back of a dragon!" Before being punched in the jaw by an irritated Astrid.

She said, "I do not like this any more than the rest of you, but the figure was right, if we do not accept his help, we will all starve to death, and that will be the end of Berk. He made it clear that he could kill us all, but he offered us help. I don't trust him, but we should at least hear him out."

Stoick sadly stated, "I do not think we have much of a choice. Whatever the figure was made it clear that he knows what we did to Hiccup, and I think that part of proving that we deserve his help will be to put aside our egos and listen to what Hiccup said before. Is there anyone who wishes to oppose this matter?"

The village grumbled, not liking the idea of asking for help, but not wanting to go up against Stoick.

The figure and the dragon returned the next morning, as promised, asking, "Have you made your decision?"

Stoick replied, "We do not have much of a choice. What do we need to do to prove ourselves worthy of your help?"

The stranger stated, "You have already made the first step, asking for help. In order to prove yourselves, you will have to release the dragons that you are holding captive, then beat me in single combat."

Stoick blanched, nervously saying, "Why would we release the dragons? They would only kill us, and return to raid us."

Calmly, the figure stated, "I know that you have not had a single dragon raid in this past month. This is because I killed their Queen. The dragons are not mindless killers, so you will release them. Hiccup knew this before he left, but he knew you wouldn't listen to him. Now, you should have enough motivation to listen to someone who does not share your views."

Stoick grudgingly replied, "Fine. We will do it. But if a single one attacks, we will have your head."

The small party trudged down to the arena, preparing to release the captive dragons.

The figure said to his dragon, "Tell the dragons in the pens that we have come to free them, and that their Queen is dead. Warn them not to attack." And the dragon relayed the message.

When the pens were opened, the dragons calmly exited, moving towards the exit before flying away. The figure stated, "That wasn't so hard, was it? I told you that they would not attack. The last thing you must do is beat me in single combat. The rules for challenges are as follows: no killing blows and only one challenger each day. Armor will be allowed, and each challenger will have their choice of weapon. Does anyone wish to be the first challenger?"

The village stood for a moment, eyeing the slim figure.

As arrogant and predictable as always, Snotlout stepped forward shouting, "This should be easy, I am the best warrior in this tribe!"

The stranger calmly replied, "I accept your challenge. Prepare yourself for combat."

An hour later, the stands surrounding the arena were packed with vikings, eager to see how this fight would turn out. Stoick stood and stated, "This match will last until one party either yields or is unable to continue. At the sound of the gong, the match will begin." And with that, the gong rang out.

#

Snotlout had chosen to use an axe in this battle. When the gong rang and the battle began, he gave a war cry, charging at the figure standing calmly in front of him. As the axe came down, Hiccup moved slightly to the side, avoiding the stroke, before turning and giving Snotlout a powerful hook to his jaw. Snotlout stumbled back with the power of the blow, and suddenly found himself staring up at the figure, a sword held to his throat.

The figure coldly asked, "Do you yield?"

Snotlout grumbled a yes, unhappy that he had been defeated in under 30 seconds.

The figure then asked, "Are there any more challengers?"

Astrid stepped up, challenging the figure, who said, "Good, if you are ready to fight, we will begin."

#

The gong rang out again, and Astrid slowly circled Hiccup, before swinging her axe at the space that his head had been a fraction of a second earlier.

Before he could land a strike, she whirled out of his reach, preparing for another strike, but before she could strike, she saw his sword flash for a second, slicing the handle of her axe.

She threw the wooden handle at him, but he caught it, sending it spinning back at her, catching her in the forehead.

Moving forward, Hiccup pointed his sword at her throat, asking, "Do you yield?"

She had no choice, angrily yielding.

The next person who stepped up was Stoick himself, bellowing out his challenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Such a lovely cliffhanger, expect the fight in the next chapter, which I hope to have up within the week.
> 
> I am planning on this story being around 10-12 chapters in total. I have not yet decided how it will end, the reviewers will have a say in what they want to happen, within reason.
> 
> Since this story is quickly approaching the conclusion, I would love it if people PM me with ideas for my next story. While I may not use the idea as given, I will see if I can include certain elements of each in.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.

As Stoick the Vast issued his challenge, Hiccup became a little nervous. The man who used to be his father was an exceptional warrior, and he knew that this would be a challenging duel.

Hiccup calmly accepted the challenge from the towering man.

That night, he worked to devise a strategy to counter Stoick's technique, for despite how strong his armor was, Hiccup knew that it would not be able to fully protect him from Stoick's fearsome strikes.

For this duel, Stoick had chosen to use his hammer, knowing that it was almost indestructible. Hiccup was shocked when he saw that it was the same hammer that he had made for the man. He had never thought that of all the people of Berk, Stoick would have kept the weapon.

From what Hiccup knew, Stoick was fast and strong, making him more formidable than any other he had fought so far. He knew that he would have to rely on his speed and intelligence to win this battle. His speed and reflexes were far faster than any normal man's, for he had been training with a Night Fury, the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, and holding his own. But he knew that arrogance would get him seriously injured, as it had done to Snotlout, Astrid, and many others.

#

The next morning, Hiccup made his way to the arena, where the tribe was beginning to gather in anticipation of the coming fight between their chief and the slim stranger.

As he readied for the fight, Hiccup pushed all thoughts of the past out of his mind, knowing that he would need to be fully focused if he hoped to survive.

As the gong rang out through the arena, the combatants warily circled, each sizing up their opponent, not wanting to make the first move.

With surprising speed for a man of his girth, the chief swung his hammer in a deadly arc, one that would have knocked off Hiccup's head if it had struck, but Hiccup was faster, weaving just beyond the reach of the massive weapon. He knew that he would need to wear out his opponent, and he darted in, opening a shallow cut across the man's chest, before ducking under the stroke that came a split second later.

The duel had lasted 5 minutes, and the combatants had traded blows, Hiccup often managing to open shallow cuts on his opponent's chest. He started to think that he had been worried for nothing, but then Stoick struck. He was not fast enough to avoid the blow entirely, striking his arm, and breaking the bone with the impact of the glancing blow. He screamed out in pain before collapsing. The villagers thought at that moment that the fight was over, but pain was something that Hiccup was used to, and before Stoick could press forward with his advantage, Hiccup was back on his feet and out of reach.

Bleeding from dozens of shallow wounds and clouded by his anger, Stoick made one last effort, and swung his hammer with all his might, a blow that would kill a Monstrous Nightmare.

Hiccup saw the desperation in the strike, and he swung his sword at the head of the hammer, the midnight black sword slicing through the heavy weapon like it was paper.

With the weapon rendered useless, Hiccup surged forward, flowing like water, taking down his father with a sharp kick to the back of the knee.

As Stoick hit the ground about to roll up, when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, and the darkness enveloped him.

#

The crowd was silent.

They had just seen the mysterious figure defeat their chief in battle, destroying his weapon and knocking the huge man unconscious.

At that moment, they realized they were helpless. Stoick had been the best warrior in the tribe, and he was laying on the ground, beaten by a slim stranger.

The stranger calmly asked, "Does anyone else wish to challenge me?" When the crowd was silent, the stranger continued, "I thought you were supposed to be brave vikings and fearsome warriors, not cowards."

The crowd remained silent, not wishing to upset the masked warrior.

The warrior coldly stated, "I have kept all the promises I have made to you so far. If I were you, I would start praying for mercy, before it is too late."

Hiccup had expected that someone would have put together the pieces of what he had just said, but when nobody did, he quietly sighed, remembering to never underestimate the clueless nature of vikings.

He walked out of the arena, moving into the forest, where he would brace his arm and wait for Stoick to regain consciousness.

#

The next morning, Stoick had a pounding headache, courtesy of Hiccup, but he could not let it stop him. As he stepped through the door, he saw a shadow dive down, landing in the center of the village, dismounting the dragon.

The figure announced, "I will show the people of this island slight mercy, you will find that there will be food for you through the winter, but I will be leaving. I might return again, once you make amends, but before I leave, I am going to give you the courtesy of seeing who defeated you."

As he reached for his mask, he continued, "I have gone by many names in my hard life, most coming from my cousin, but you will know me best as Hiccup the Useless." And with that, he removed his mask.

The crowd gasped, stumbling back in shock. They realized that they had made a grave mistake in their treatment of the boy, and they knew that there was much that they must make amends for before they would be safe.

And with that, Hiccup replaced his mask, climbed up onto the dragon behind him, and vanished into the sky.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plenty of big reveals, look for more guardian angel behavior. I know that this seems cold, but it is just the kick that the people of Berk need to get out of the past.
> 
> Please feel free to let me know what I can do better, I really appreciate it.
> 
> I would like to thank the people who have pointed out my flaws, and I will be doing my best to fix them, this revision set will go from chapter 7 to the present, and chapter 10 will not be posted until after that... Sorry about the wait...


	10. Updated A/N

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not a new chapter, but an update.

As you might know, I have not updated this story for quite some time. This was due to my lapse into a period of suicidal depression. I am still not in a place where I can write more of this story, but I promise that I will not abandon this story, as many others have. I hope that there will still be people to read this story when I next update it.

I am no longer suicidal, thanks to my closest friend. In the near future, to help my recovery, I might write a suicide oneshot, but no promises. I also hope to have a new chapter by the New Year.

Thank you,

KevinLazar

* * *

Update: Today, I uploaded the documents that had already been on my computer to update this story, enjoy. Chapter 10 will hopefully be out by New Years, as I planned in the last update. I have also uploaded a story titled "The End of His Pain," which is a dark story, but a way to recovery for me. I have to thank all the kind comments, I will do my best to stay strong now that I have gotten help.

I would also like to say that I will be doing these updates on my profile page, as I dislike putting too much up that is not part of the story.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own How to Train Your Dragon
> 
> I would like to thank the more than 8,000 viewers of this story, I had not even dreamed that this fanfiction would reach that many people.

The people of Berk stood there stunned; their best warriors had just been defeated by Hiccup the Useless. They remembered what Hiccup had said in his note to them, telling them he had left, "I will return some day, and you should all pray that I will show you mercy." They had never truly understood what he had meant until his recent performance.

Stoick, still suffering from a pounding headache, turned pale from fear, just like the teens had done when they had heard Hiccup's promise. He announced, "Never before have we been so powerless against an enemy, one who came from our own home. He has proven that he could slaughter us all in a night. We failed to defeat him, but for some reason, he helped us. We might never know why. I know that many of you will not be happy to hear this, but if we are to survive, we must adapt. Hiccup has made that clear."

The crowd looked on in shock. Stoick had not only admitted that Berk was helpless, but that they needed to change. Gobber just looked at Stoick, pleased that someone had finally managed to get through the chief's thick skull.

#

As Hiccup flew back to his home, he wondered if he had done the right thing. Now that he had revealed who he was, word would spread that Berk was powerless to defend themselves from invaders. He realized that they would have to defend Berk for some time while they regained their strength, and hopefully changed for the better.

Toothless landed in the mouth of the cave, and Hiccup dismounted, his arm still sore from the blow his father had dealt. He realized that if he was going to fight again, he would need to strengthen his armor a great deal, make it able to stand up to more powerful strikes than before. Hiccup knew that he had about a month before the word would reach Berk's enemies, and he resolved to begin his preparations the following week, once his arm had healed some more.

#

Hiccup had been working on improving his weapons and armor for the past could days in the forge, and he had learned many things about night steel. He found that if he heated it too much, that it would revert to being normal steel, and he realized that night steel was just a new way of tempering steel. He was working on shaping a mask out of steel, the final part that he would need to complete his new armor.

His new armor would be almost entirely shielded by metal, with metal plates covering all but the joints, and chainmail covering the rest. His armor would be strong enough to withstand almost anything, and he knew that would be essential, as he would be facing many vikings using heavy weapons such as hammers and axes, weapons that would crush his old armor.

He called Toothless in, saying, "Toothless, could you please blast the armor pieces?"

Toothless unleashed several small blasts, striking each piece of the armor. He was glad that his stubborn rider had decided to better protect himself.

With the reinforcements completed, all Hiccup had to do was integrate them into his current armor.

He spent the entire night affixing the plates to the interior of his armor, where they would be invisible to the naked eye. While he was affixing the plates, he began to think about making some better weapons for himself. He was currently debating whether or not he should make himself a shield, but deciding that it would not fit his fighting style, making him more vulnerable as it slowed him down.

#

As Hiccup had predicted, it took about a month for word of Berk's helplessness to reach Alvin the Treacherous, leader of the Outcasts, a long-time enemy of Berk.

Alvin announced to the tribe, "Some of you may have heard about Berk's current situation, but let me offer a refresher. About a month ago, the greatest warriors of Berk were defeated by a lone warrior riding a Night Fury. The people of Berk are unable to protect themselves right now, but they will soon recover. In two days time, we begin sailing to Berk, where we will finally crush them. Begin preparing the fleet for war."

The Outcasts immediately set to work, eager to make Berk pay for all they had done in the past.

#

With his armor finished and his arm healed, Hiccup had taken to keeping an eye on Berk, watching for invasions. Though he had not forgiven them yet, he still couldn't just let them die to invaders. They had shown that they could change, even if it was only a tiny bit, and that gave him hope for the future. Maybe one day, he would be accepted back into the tribe.

One night while he was on patrol, he spotted some ships moving towards Berk. Like a shadow, he and Toothless dove down, passing only yards from the ships. When he looked at them, he knew immediately that they were Outcast ships.

#

The Outcasts were making good time, they were about two days out from Berk. The soldiers on watch were quite bored; nothing of interest ever seemed to happen to them, not that they were complaining though. That night was going just the same as every other night before, but they heard an unmistakable sound, one that every viking had been taught to fear since they were small children—the shriek of a Night Fury.

Hearing the sound, a man yelled, "Night Fury, get down!" and a moment later, a plasma blast shot a hole through one of the ships.

The Outcasts, realizing what had just happened, were terrified; they were in the middle of the ocean, far from any island, and a Night Fury had just destroyed one of their ships.

Fifteen minutes later, there were only a handful of ships remaining, and it grew quiet, the men unsure of what would happen next.

#

The next morning, the Outcasts were all exhausted, they had lost half their fleet last night, and they had barely slept. They saw a shadow land on the bow of their largest ship, followed by a smaller shadow that leapt off.

The figure stated, "This island is protected, turn back now if you want to live. If you do not think that I could kill you all, let me remind you that I took out half your fleet last night."

Hearing the statement, Alvin stepped forward, ordering his men to kill the shadows.

For a moment, the men stood still, not sure who they feared more: the figure or Alvin, then they surged forward, hoping to overwhelm the figure.

Hiccup drew out his sword, and began to fight. He slashed and stabbed, cutting through flesh and steel with ease. On the bow, Toothless had taken to shooting down any ships that had archers.

In a matter of minutes, Alvin was the only Outcast left on the ship.

The masked figure stepped forward, and faster than the eye could see, cut off Alvin's right hand, stating in a chilling voice, "You will not return to Berk ever again. If you do, you will lose more than just your hand," before climbing back onto Toothless and soaring away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of my favorite chapters so far, I am not yet sure exactly where to go next, but feel free to send ideas.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own How to Train Your Dragon
> 
> I must say that I love writing this story. I have spent countless hours looking for interesting fanfictions for How to Train Your Dragon, but I could not seem to find ones that matched what I was looking for. I found some that were well over 100,000 words, only to find that it was a cliffhanger that had not been updated since 2014, something I only found out after reading the entire story. I have also come across stories that were well written, except for the massive number of typos scattered throughout. It appears that this story is one that is well liked, having been viewed almost 10,000 times since the beginning. I am glad that I could contribute to this community, and I assure all the readers that I will not be abandoning this story, or adding any more Author's Note only chapters. There will be another note at the end, but with all that out of the way, time for the story.

It had been a week since Hiccup and Toothless had last been seen by the people of Berk as they repelled the Outcast invasion fleet. Astrid had been out in the forest, lost in thought.

**She stared down the figure before her, analyzing its weaknesses, but she was coming up blank. Something about this situation felt familiar, but she couldn't quite place the memory. As the gong rang out, she swung her axe at the figure, but there was only air. She spun back, but she saw a flash, the figure drew his sword and sliced through the handle of the axe she was holding. She threw the handle, hoping to surprise him, but he caught it and she felt a sharp pain in her forehead as the wooden rod struck her. Never before had she felt so helpless as she did as she stared at the sword, inches from her throat.**

She suddenly realized how Hiccup must have felt for the past fifteen years—helpless. He had been no match for them, he had even begged for mercy, but they had just carried on beating him. Thinking back, she wondered how he had survived for so long before he snapped, but remembered what he had said about how it had been the last straw when she had snapped at him. She had been the only one keeping him sane for years, he had wanted to be accepted by her so badly, and she had cast him out. Astrid wondered if Hiccup could ever forgive her for what she had done to him.

#

Several ships were approaching Berserker Island. As the ships docked, Alvin vaulted off the deck and found himself before Dagur the Deranged, the man he wanted to see.

Alvin said, "Hello Dagur, it has been a while since last time. I was passing through, and I found myself wondering if you had heard about Berk's current situation."

As the Berserkers around him stepped away, Dagur asked, "I do not recall hearing anything new about Berk, why not share the news."

The Outcast replied, "The best warriors on Berk were defeated in combat just over a month ago by a lone warrior riding a Night Fury. I figured you would have heard about it by now."

As Dagur's men turned to run, the Berserker grabbed one of them, screaming, "Why didn't you tell me that Berk was helpless?" before throwing the man off the dock and into the water.

Dagur asked Alvin, "I know you well enough to know that you do not just share this sort of information freely, what did you have in mind?"

Alvin happily replied, "I was thinking that we could form an alliance to wipe out Berk, and get a chance at killing a Night Fury. I already tried invading, but most of the fleet was destroyed by a Night Fury in the middle of the night. I know that you Berserkers are great dragon hunters, something that is necessary to even come close to the island. What do you say?"

Dagur, unusually cheerful, stated, "I will join you in this conquest, on the condition that I get to kill that Night Fury."

Both men nodded, shaking hands. An alliance had been forged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plenty of fun coming up for Berk, I look forward to it.
> 
> I am currently thinking of writing a story similar to my other one, "The End of His Pain," featuring a different ending. Any thoughts on it?


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.
> 
> I have changed the rating on this story to M because of the battle scene in this chapter, something that I will be basing off of chapter 25 in "Winter in Líf's Holt" by Midoriko-Sama. This chapter will likely be the only chapter that will be deserving of an M rating. If you do not wish to read the battle scene, I will feature a summary at the end, and have a "#" at the beginning and end of the scene. This will also be a longer chapter, with some unusual behavior by certain characters...

The alliance between the Berserkers and the Outcasts had been in place for almost a month, with both tribes preparing for a full invasion of Berk. Every resource they had was at the ready, with the armada due to depart for Berk in less than a week.

Dagur and Alvin had been discussing tactics, mainly related to how to deal with the Night Fury and the rider. The two leaders had made an agreement; Dagur would get the honor of killing the Night Fury, and Alvin could have the head of the man who took his hand.

The Berserker ships were equipped with large torches to provide light, and catapults and ballistæ to take down the Night Fury once they could see it.

#

Hiccup and Toothless had fallen into a routine; each night, they would fly a patrol of the sea around Berk, watching for any signs of an invasion.

Each day, Hiccup would spend at least an hour exercising, and another two flying. Occasionally, he would come across pirates, but he had seen only a couple ships full of terrified pirates since they had repelled the Outcast invasion.

Each morning, Hiccup rose with the sun, spending an hour training his strength and speed, before sparring with Toothless using a wooden stick, as not to hurt his best friend. After a quick breakfast of fish, the duo spent a couple hours practicing his flying skills, constantly improving them, trying ever more dangerous tricks; much to the annoyance of Toothless. Usually, Hiccup would work in the forge until nightfall improving their gear, something that included adding an emergency mechanism on Toothless' tail to allow him to fly without Hiccup if the need ever arose.

It only took them about an hour each night to arrive near Berk, and another hour to patrol the surrounding seas. In total, they spent about three hours each night to protect the very village that had cast them out.

They were performing one of their routine patrols, when they saw a fleet of ships that looked like those of the Berserker tribe a couple of days away from Berk. Hiccup had originally intended on taking out a few ships, but he then noticed that there were a lot of weapons on the ship, weapons that could definitely take out a Night Fury.

#

The people of Berk were going through their typical morning routine, when they saw a shadow land at the edge of the village.

Hiccup climbed off and spoke, "I must speak to Stoick immediately, there is a Berserker fleet approaching Berk, about two days out."

The villagers rushed to get the chief. When he arrived, Stoick asked, "Why should we trust someone who has betrayed their tribe? You ride on the back of our enemy!"

Hiccup calmly replied, "As I stated previously, I could kill you all right now. What would I gain by lying to you about the approach of an enemy fleet?"

Stoick stood there, not sure how to respond to such a strong statement. He replied, "If you could kill us all, why did you not already destroy the ships as you did to the Outcasts?"

Hiccup responded, "This fleet is heavily armed, it would not have been safe to attack them. If you are willing to listen, I would be willing to help defend the village from this threat."

The village was puzzled. Why would Hiccup offer them help after all they had done to him over the years?

Stoick, after much consideration, declared, "We will listen to your plans, as you have shown that you can be trusted. If you betray us, we will execute you for it."

Hiccup simply replied, "I accept your conditions."

And with that, two men and one dragon made their way to the Great Hall to discuss strategy.

#

The Berserker fleet had just entered the harbor, and were puzzled when there was nobody in sight. They moved up the cliffs into the village, finding no signs of life. As they began to move deeper into the village, they heard a deep, thundering voice call, "People of Berk, attack!"

In response, every warrior on Berk leapt from the halls, attacking the invaders.

The fighting dragged on as the Berserker armada was slowly reduced to ash by dragons.

**#**

For most of the fight, Astrid had been at the front. She had slain over a dozen warriors, relieving them of their various limbs as the blade of her axe flashed crimson with their blood.

As she pressed forward, Astrid encountered Dagur. As she charged at Dagur, she found herself in the grips two strong warriors, unable to escape. Dagur spoke, "I look forward to defiling you after we are through with this business, it will be a great pleasure." At that thought, Astrid shuddered; she would never let herself be raped by these monsters.

Dagur was about to order his men to take her to the ships for later, when he saw a shadow drop from the sky and land behind the two men holding his prize.

#

Hiccup had never felt such anger as he did when he heard what Dagur was saying. He would not let Dagur have his way with Astrid, no matter what she had done to him.

He engaged the emergency mechanism before jumping off. As he landed behind the men, he struck out with his sword, relieving them of their heads. Hiccup told Astrid to run, but she did not listen. In response to her refusal, he called to Snotlout, saying, "Take her! I cannot fight if I am worrying about what will happen to Astrid!" and he threw her towards Snotlout.

Hiccup lashed out with his sword, slicing through the axe that his opponent used. He sliced off Dagur's leg before stabbing him through the shoulder and twisting the blade, causing Dagur to cry out in pain. Hiccup lashed out again and again, slowly dismembering the man before him. But before Hiccup could make the final blow, Dagur grabbed a blade and swung it with all his might, slicing through Hiccup's left leg, removing it from his body.

Astrid cried out, grabbing Snotlout's axe and using to cave in Dagur's skull, bashing until there was nothing but mush where his head had once been.

She called out to Stoick, "Stoick! Hiccup is badly hurt, he needs help now!"

#

Stoick had just taken off the head of an enemy when he heard Astrid's cry for help.

He ran, leaping over the bodies of the fallen, striking out with an axe at anyone crazy enough to stand in his way as he made his way to Hiccup.

As he ran, he also heard the cry of a Night Fury. Toothless landed before Hiccup, bellowing out what could only be described as a challenge, causing every Berserker on the island to flee in terror before the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself.

When Stoick reached Hiccup's side, he picked up the fallen boy, carrying him to Gothi's hut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the cliffhanger, I am going to be writing another one-shot before I put up chapter 13.
> 
> The basic summary is that Hiccup saw Dagur talking about raping Astrid as she was held down, and he lost it, mercilessly killing Dagur. Before Dagur died, he managed to remove Hiccup's left leg. Astrid then killed Dagur, Stoick came to help, and Toothless drove the invaders off in fear.
> 
> I will probably rework this chapter as time goes on, but I feel like this is the best I could do with my current skills.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.
> 
> This story is so much fun to write, but once I am done with this chapter, I will be out of ideas for now. That means that this story will be on hiatus for an unknown amount of time. I am accepting new ideas, and I will probably be writing a fair number of different stories as I work to come up with ideas on writing the next chapter of this story. The longest I can expect without a new chapter will be a month or two, but during that time, I will also be reworking the current chapters.

It had been two weeks since Hiccup had lost his leg in the battle with Dagur before he started to wake up. At first, he did not know where he was. As the memories came flooding back, he remembered where he was, but was still completely puzzled by how he had gotten there.

He was laying on a cot in Gothi's hut, with a black shadow curled up in the corner. As he turned his head, he saw Astrid sitting by the side of the bed. His eyes widened in surprise; he had never expected to see her there after what he had done to her. What surprised him the most was that she looked to have been crying before he awoke, after all, Hoffersons never cry.

He croaked, "Astrid, why are you here? You don't have to stay here, you have better things to be doing than sitting there."

She stood up and moved closer to him. She reached down and helped him to sit up before helping him take a drink of cool water. Hiccup sighed as he felt the cool liquid slide down his parched throat. Astrid said softly, "I am here to take care of you. You are only here because of me. If I had been a better fighter, then I wouldn't have needed you to save me. Please let me stay and care for you, it is the least I can do." She sobbed a bit when she continued, "You saved me from a fate worse than death when you stopped Dagur. One thing I still don't understand is why you saved me. I treated you so horribly, I did not deserve what you did for me."

Hiccup fought the urge to reach up and cup her cheek, not wanting to suffer any more injuries, and replied, "Astrid, I could not just stand by and watch as the woman I love was dragged off and raped when I could have done something. I did it for the same reason why I gave Berk help for the past months; it is just who I am. I appreciate that you want to care for me, but you don't have to. You have already repaid me for what I have done. You may have treated me badly over the years, but you were always the best to me. You were the only one who never beat me."

Softly crying, Astrid said, "I want to take care of you. I love you too, I was just too afraid to ever say it. You are a good man Hiccup, and I am sorry that I did not see it sooner. As for the others, they won't mess with you any more."

Hiccup looked down, hiding a blush, and then he saw his leg, and he screamed. His left leg was missing. Astrid grabbed him and pulled him close, no longer caring what the others thought, he needed her help to get through this. As she comforted him, she said, "You lost your leg when you were fighting Dagur on my behalf. I am so sorry, I wish that you had never come to save me."

Hiccup, still upset replied, "Astrid, don't you even think that. Nobody deserves to experience what they would have done to you, not even Snotlout. It is not your fault, it was bad luck. We will get through this, you know that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a fairly short chapter, but I feel like it has a great deal of implications for the story. I am once again working through the next part of this story, so it might be a bit until the next chapter. As always, feel free to share any thoughts or ideas you might have.
> 
> I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who has read this story, you have no idea how much it means to me.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.
> 
> Sorry about the wait for this chapter, I was having trouble figuring out what all I would include, but I think I have figured it out, so here you go. I will be doing a complete rewrite of this story after I post this chapter, I hope that I will get one or two chapters in each week, so please check back in if you are interested. I will be changing some key plot points, so it might cause a little confusion if you continue on.

After the battle on Berk, Alvin had hidden himself in the forest, unable to make his way to the ships. He had been creeping into town to steal food, after having accidentally come across that weird old hermit and his sheep. He wished that he had never seen what he had that day, as despite being able to stomach the gore of battle, he had nearly emptied his stomach that day.

Alvin tended to overhear pieces of gossip from the townspeople, including that Hiccup was still alive, but had lost his leg. He looked at his hooked hand and yearned for revenge, and when he saw Hiccup limping around that first time, he knew what he was going to do.

#

It had been a taxing day for Hiccup, between Astrid following him, and having an overprotective Night Fury refuse to let him out of his sights. All he wanted was a good meal and a warm bed.

He went into the Mead Hall and got himself a plate of food from an unfamiliar worker, but he paid no attention.

The dragon behind him was another matter.

#

Toothless hated how stubborn Hiccup was, never looking out for his health or safety. He grumbled in annoyance as he saw his rider's legs buckle and used his head to keep him from falling.

Despite his annoyance, he was glad that people had finally stopped waving sharp, pointy objects at him. That all changed when he detected a familiar scent, and the scent of poison.

He leapt into action, shooting a tiny bolt of plasma at the plate in Hiccup's hands, incinerating it, and more importantly, its poisoned contents.

#

Hiccup turned in shock when he was suddenly left without his plate, and he asked Toothless, "Why did you do that bud, it was just a plate of food."

Toothless growled back, before imitating a swallow, and falling over, as if dead.

Hiccup realized what Toothless had done, and he said, "Thanks bud, I'm sorry that I doubted you. Where did that poison come from?"

Toothless turned his head and glared at the unfamiliar worker, and when he took a closer look, he saw that it was Alvin.

#

To say that Alvin was unhappy was an understatement. He had almost managed to kill that infuriating boy, but then that scaled demon had seen through the ploy and unmasked him.

He decided that he would go for a more direct approach, trying to kill Hiccup with an axe.

#

Toothless saw Alvin grab an axe, and he suppressed a groan of frustration. Humans and their sharp objects, when would they learn that pointing them at a Night Fury was a bad idea?

Toothless huffed a small plasma blast at the man's good hand, causing him to drop the axe and scream in pain.

#

Hiccup looked at Toothless in shock as the dragon had just disarmed Alvin, and then began to warble in laughter as the man screamed as his hand burnt to a crisp.

He quickly unsheathed his sword, and sighed before he stabbed Alvin through the heart. At least he would not have to worry about that enemy again.

His stomach grumbled again, and he moved back to grab another plate, happy that Toothless just nodded and followed him to a seat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter, featuring some new viewpoints, and some elements that will be added into earlier chapters.
> 
> Feel free to let me know what you think of the new viewpoints and if you think I should use them in my rewriting.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.

I do not know why this is a pain for me, but I will not be amending earlier chapters of this work. At this moment, this will be the last chapter for this particular version. I will be posting the rewrite from the beginning under the name "Run, Hide, Pray," which will cover more ground than this one. I will be rewriting this story into it, as I cannot come up with a better motion. I will also be making an AO3 account, and posting there too... I have sort of lost track of this story right now, as I have had a bit of a busy schedule, but it will be coming back. The hope is to get a chapter every other week, but it may not be that fast. Sorry for the wait. Anybody who is willing to help me with beta reading, feel free to PM me.

* * *

To give a general synopsis on my works at this time, this story is considered complete, at least under this title. Both of my depression/suicide stories are finished, as is "Her Embrace." I am working on writing a story about cold fury, with an indeterminate date, and once I have five complete chapters, I will begin publishing "Run, Hide, Pray," the rewritten and expanded version of this story.

Finally, as much as I hate this, there is no story in this chapter, just an Author's Note. In the new story, I will not be putting in chapters without stories in them, as I do not like to get hopes up, only to crush them.

Until next time, KevinLazar


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.

Hello everybody, it has been a pleasure to write this story for the community, but today is the day when it is officially over.

Do not fear however, this story will be coming back better. I will leave this version up, and maybe crosspost it on AO3, but I am not sure.

This chapter is going to be the last ever update to "Run," and it is to make everyone aware of the posting of the first chapter of the rewritten version, "Run, Hide, Pray," which is on here, and AO3. I figured I should let everyone who has followed this story know that it has changed locations.

For those who like statistics, as of the writing of this chapter, "Run" has been viewed 17,737 times, has 47 reviews, 52 favorites, and 53 followers. To those of you reading this, I must say that I never thought it would get this far, and I thank you for your continued support.

As always, feel free to reach out to me with any thoughts.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope to have the next chapter out in a couple days.


End file.
